Category: News

Matís employees are involved in an extensive research project in co-operation between the Nordic countries and Canadians, with the aim of increasing the quality of juveniles produced in cod farming.

The project is funded by Canadian parties and the Nordic part of it by NORA, the Nordisk Atlantsamarbejde fund. From Iceland, Rannveig Björnsdóttir at Matís and the University of Akureyri work on the project, as well as Ragnar Jóhannsson, Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir and other parties at Matís, and Agnar Steinarsson at the Marine Research Institute.

There are high hopes for cod farming, both in Iceland and in the other Nordic countries and in Canada. In Iceland, Matís has been involved in research projects in cod farming with the parties that are working on this young branch, and with this, knowledge has been built up on various aspects of farming within Matís. A large part of this research has been carried out by Rannveiga Björnsdóttir at Matís' office in Akureyri. Rannveig and her group have placed special emphasis on research in the early stages of farming, ie. the larval stage, where the most losses occur.

In the COD-Atlantic project, the larval stage is specifically examined. The aim is to gain a better understanding of how composition in food affects the growth process of cod larvae and their health. In other words, look for the food composition that gives the larvae the most life expectancy. Another aspect of the COD-Atlantic project as a whole is to increase the growth rate of cod in aquaculture by streamlining feeding. It is important for the development of cod farming to master as soon as possible major factors that affect the efficiency of farming. Proper feeding and reduced juvenile mortality are important.

For further information Rannveig Björnsdóttir.

"Finances are an important part of Matís' research projects, and not least we feel their importance when it comes to Matís' foreign projects, which are constantly growing," says Guðlaug Þóra Marinósdóttir, Matís' office manager.

"This is an aspect that concerns those who finance and support the projects, our project partners and Matís staff who manage these projects. Of course, our researchers monitor the financial aspects of the projects, but it can be said that our role is to ensure that they can first and foremost dedicate themselves to their expertise and scientific work, "says Guðlaug Þóra. She says that good management of project finances is one of the keys to building trust with partners and sponsors "and the experience is that we are increasingly entrusted with the financial management of projects. The financial management of them varies according to the nature and scope of the projects, but in many large projects the financial management is entirely in our hands. This means that we monitor the projects from the conclusion of the contract until the end, make sure that payments are received by us so that it is possible to pay partners as stipulated in the agreements and thus ensure the efficient progress of the projects, "says Guðlaug Þóra and mentions Amylomics, EcoFishMan, NordChar and the SAFE Consortium as examples of large-scale foreign projects on the staff tables.

Guðlaug Þóra mentions that Matís is in good cooperation with the National Audit Office, which is responsible for auditing Matís' annual accounts. "We want things to be in order and we have been working systematically on improvements lately. years of our accounting processes and procedures for internal control, in collaboration with the National Audit Office. In general, we feel a great deal of trust in Matís abroad in terms of financial management, and the much-discussed bank collapse in this country has not had an effect in this respect. We felt the effects of the first year after the collapse of the banks, but the only effect we find today is the amount of paperwork involved in opening new bank accounts in connection with new projects.

A large part of our foreign income comes from funds belonging to the 7th Framework Program of the European Union and the Nordic Funds, but our partners in these projects are companies and institutions located in the Nordic countries and other European countries, and we therefore need to do banking in many countries. in different currencies. Our goal at Matís is to deliver good work in all areas, both in terms of the scientific aspect and project management, including in terms of finances, as they are very important in the project work after all.
comes to everything, "says Guðlaug Þóra.

For further information Guðlaug Þóra.

The conference on the future of the maritime community in the Westfjords is a conference that will be held in Edinborghúsin on Ísafjörður on September 22nd. The CEO of Matís, Sveinn Margeirsson, is one of the speakers, whose talk is called "Cooperation is the backbone of success."

The conference starts at 10: 30-16: 30 and is open to everyone.

The agenda of the conference is as follows:

• 10.30 Opening of the conference - Chair Berglind Hallgrímsdóttir Managing Director of the Iceland Innovation Center
• 10.45 Shiran Þórisson, CEO of Atvinnuþróunarfélag Vestfjarði - Atvinnulífsgreining Vestfjarði
• 11.15 Dr. Þóroddur Bjarnason, Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Akureyri and Chairman of the Board of the Regional Development Institute - The future of coastal settlements in the Westfjords
• 11.45 Lunch
• 13.00 Dr. Þorsteinn Ingi Sigfússon, CEO of the Icelandic Innovation Center and professor at HI - The importance of innovation for the business community and innovation ideas related to the ocean and the fishing industry.
• 13.30 Dr. Daði Már Kristófersson, Associate Professor of Natural Resource Economics - Competitiveness of the Fisheries, Iceland vs. Westfjords
• 14.00 Dr. Ögmundur Knútsson, President of the School of Business and Science at the University of Akureyri - The value chain in the fisheries sector and possibilities for increasing value within it
• 14.30 Coffee break
• 14.45 Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir, project manager of the Iceland Innovation Center in Ísafjörður - Sea-related tourism and experience tourism.
• 15.15 Dr. Sveinn Margeirsson, CEO of Matís - Collaboration is the backbone of success.
• 15.45 Panel discussion chaired by the moderator - What is the future of the Westfjords sea settlements?
• 16.30 Closing of the conference

Registration on reception@westfjords.is

Further information can be found on the website of Atvinnuþróunarfélag Vestfjarði, www.atvest.is.is/

One of Matís' most extensive research projects in recent years has revolved around herring stocks in the North Atlantic.

This is a Nordic project funded by the Fisheries Project Fund and the AG-Fisk Group of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Together with Matís, the Marine Research Institute in Iceland, the Institute of Marine Research in the Faroe Islands, the University of the Faroe Islands, Síldarvinnslan in Neskaupstaður, the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen in Norway and DTU Food in Lyngby in Denmark are working on it.

The title of the project is an Interdisciplinary study of herring stocks in the Northeast Atlantic and the title is descriptive of Matís' involvement in the project. It brings together experts in different fields of study, such as genetics, chemistry, food science and engineering, to name a few.

Herring stocks in the sea area in question are both regional and migratory. This means that the catch can be mixed from stocks according to regions and seasons. Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir, director of Safety, Environment and Genetics, says that processing companies are interested in gaining further knowledge about the nature of the stocks and their behavior, as the processing properties of the herring can vary between stocks. "This is a multifaceted project where we are looking at the number of herring stocks in the Northeast Atlantic, applying genetics to determine stock structure, also the role of different stocks in fishing and then linking the genetic information to processing properties and chemical content. In doing so, we seek to answer questions about the proportion of stock units in the fishery, whether the different processing properties of the herring are tied to its stock structure or whether there are other factors such as environmental conditions. Based on this information, processors can assess the characteristics of herring by sea area or fishing season, "says Anna Kristín, but work on the project began in 2009.

Other pelagic species in this area are worthy of research material for the same purpose, and Anna Kristín mentions as an example blue whiting, capelin and mackerel, which in a short time has become an important species in Iceland's marine catch. The intention is therefore that this study will lay the foundation for another and larger European project where the fish stocks in question, and even more, will be studied.

A research project recently began in collaboration between Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish parties with a new composition of feed in charr farming, but it can be said that this is preceded by the development and research of Matís, Hólar University and domestic charr producers with new protein sources and raw materials in feed.

Jón Árnason, feed scientist and project manager at Matís, will lead the project. He says that in light of Iceland being the world's largest charr producer, Iceland has a leading role in research and development.

"We have been examining with the farming companies the protein needs of char and whether it is possible to use protein sources other than fishmeal in the feed and thereby increase the efficiency of char production. With the Nordic project, we will test fish farmers in all three countries and then we will see the results in different situations. Subsequently, we will examine the impact of environmental factors on charr farming, assess growth and feed utilization based on changed feed, follow the impact all the way to the market and examine the reactions of consumers. Given that we are applying this new source of protein to the rainforests of Brazil and the plains of America, we are also going to assess with everyone involved in charr farming and sales whether this change in feed can affect the image of charr in the high Nordic markets. fish species. The end of the project will thus be a kind of evaluation meeting with everyone in the char chain's value chain, "says Jón.

In addition to Matís and Hólaskóli, the project involves two farms in Iceland, the Norwegian company Polarfeed and one Norwegian farm, while in Sweden the Swedish Agricultural University and one farm are participating. The project will take two years.

For further information Jón Árnason.

Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, director of chemical research and risk assessment at Matís, has recently taken part in a European project where a cluster of knowledge was formed on the analysis of risk and benefits in food consumption.

Representatives from seven European countries took part in the project, which is a so-called SAFEFOODERA project, which was in most cases funded by the research funds of the countries in question. Despite the fact that such a grant was not received in Iceland, Matís decided to nevertheless participate in the project with its own funding.

In order to be able to assess the benefits and / or disadvantages of consuming certain types of food, it must be possible to assess their direct impact on human health. Such an assessment can only be made through a risk and benefit analysis. Risk and benefit analysis is a relatively new field of research and the development of methods is nearing completion in the field of food.

Helga says that the aim of this project was to utilize knowledge and experience in risk and benefit analysis that has been built up in other fields of study, such as medicine and pharmacology, microbiology, environmental sciences, sociology and economics, and to adapt the methods to food and nutrition. .

"An analysis like this is useful, among other things, for the administration in advising on food consumption and it focuses the spotlight on both aspects, ie. risks and benefits. This is very important because in many cases the benefits of consuming food outweigh the risk factors. In this European project, we have actually been assessing where we have come in the field of food and nutrition and whether it is possible to use knowledge from other fields of study to develop and improve risk and benefit analysis in the field of food and nutrition, "says Helga en The work of the group has been completed and the results will be published in the January issue of 2012 in the scientific journal "Food and Chemical Toxicology". In addition, the results can be accessed at www.sciencedirect.com.

For further information Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir.

Recently, an interesting European study of salmon has been completed, which has been going on since 2009. The project was entitled SALSEA-Merge and Matís was one of the researchers in it.

There is interest in building a new project in North America and Greenland on the same ideology and experience, but in this research, increased knowledge is gained about salmon stocks that flow this year and about sea areas.

"The project was to genetically identify salmon throughout the distribution area in Europe, from northern Spain in the south to Iceland and Russia in the north. A total of 26,813 salmonids from 284 rivers in this world were analyzed. Thus, we mapped institutions in the rivers, analyzed different genetic units that gave us a better picture of the genetic differences of the salmon stocks in the area, "says Kristinn Ólafsson, a specialist in genetic and biotechnology at Matís, who was in charge of genetic analysis of samples from Icelandic rivers.

"One of the main motivators for this project is the status of salmon stocks in the south of this area, i.e. in and around Spain. Due to climate change, the salmon stock is in danger there, but in addition many questions about the salmon are unanswered, including what happens when the salmon goes from the rivers to the sea and what causes increased mortality there. "

Participants in the project were research institutes such as Matís, universities and institutes in charge of salmon fishing management. In addition to Matís from Iceland, the Directorate of Fisheries also participated in the Salsea-Merge project. "

With the processing of these samples, a very large database was created that gives a picture of salmon stocks and a comparison of them. To get the clearest picture of the comparison, we agreed on 14 genetic markers that were all analyzed in the same way. With this large number of samples and the database that has been created during their processing, possibilities have now opened up for taking salmon into the sea and identifying where it came from. This has already been verified and gives us an idea of how salmon behave when they go to sea. Of course, we do not have a device that answers all our questions, but nevertheless this gives us a clearer picture than we had before, "says Kristinn.

As fishing for salmon in the sea is not permitted in Iceland, the Directorate of Fisheries has taken samples from salmon that are caught as by-catch in mackerel fishing. In this way, Kristinn says that the large study will be useful to get a clearer picture of the salmon's behavior in the Icelandic rivers.

"We hope to participate in a similar project that will hopefully become a reality in North America and Greenland. If this happens, a picture will be obtained of the entire area owned by the North Atlantic salmon. The project would then be carried out in the same way as in Europe, ie. that basic work will be started with samples and genetic analysis of fish from rivers and as a result an analysis of samples from fish in the sea will take place, "says Kristinn.

For further information Kristinn Ólafsson.

Matís participated in a study of sewage from three places in Iceland which shows that pharmaceutical residues and residues of hygiene products, such as soaps, hair products and creams, are present in sewage and pumped into the environment.

The study was part of a larger research project comparing the Nordic countries. The samples were taken at the pumping station at Klettagarður, from a well at Landsspítali in Fossvogur, at the pumping station in Akureyri and at the pumping station in Hveragerði.

In most cases, the amount of medicines and hygiene products was lower in Icelandic samples compared to samples from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. In some cases, however, higher levels were detected in Icelandic samples, such as ibuprofen (painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs), estradiol (contraceptives) and Atenolol (heart drugs). Sewage treatment of these substances does not take place in Iceland. The report did not draw any conclusions about the environmental impact of these substances, but the aim was only to obtain information on whether the substances are present in order to prioritize research and compounds that need to be monitored.

Medicines and hygiene products are used to a considerable extent in people's daily lives to improve health and hygiene. Hygiene products cover categories such as soaps and detergents, creams, deodorants, cosmetics, perfumes, etc. and are increasingly used around the world. The chemical content of these product categories can be of many kinds and are both available as active ingredients or supplements to increase the quality and / or service life of hygiene products.

For further information Hrönn Ólína Jörundsdóttir project manager at Matís.

Do you have a futuristic idea to strengthen the Icelandic fishing industry and related industries?

The Fisheries Conference calls for futuristic innovation ideas, which will be recognized at the forum's next conference on 8-9. November at the Grand Hotel. The aim is for the ideas to be progressive and original and to create a basis for discussion or new thinking.

What to keep in mind
A futuristic idea shall be presented in a concise manner where a description of the idea, a proposal for implementation, expected results and effects will be beneficial for the image of Icelandic products (maximum 2 pages). Individuals can submit their own ideas and / or nominate the ideas of others on their behalf. All ideas must meet the following conditions:

• The idea is futuristic
• The idea is realistic

Deadline
The deadline for submitting applications is October 1, 2012.

More information can be found here

Icelanders are at the forefront when it comes to the utilization of the fish that comes from the sea, on the one hand, and New Zealanders look to Iceland when it comes to acquiring knowledge about the treatment of seafood.

This is stated in an article in the New Zealand news business Business day, which worked on a report from the Auckland Business School on the New Zealand fishing industry. Viðar Guðjónsson, a journalist at Morgunblaðið, explains the content of the report and Matís' involvement in his article on 18 August.

The article can be found here.